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Learn Chinese with ChineseClass101.com! If you’re planning to talk to anyone in China, this lesson is guaranteed to come in handy. In fact, what we teach today is so high-frequency that we’re pretty sure you’ll use it in your first conversation in China: talking to the driver of the taxi that carries you away from the airport. What Chinese phrase could possibly be so useful? Nothing more than telling other people which country you’re from in Chinese, and then of course, asking them about themselves in Chinese. This might be small talk, but you’re going to use it again and again, year after year in China. Even fluent Chinese speakers still use this on a daily basis!
Learning Chinese with ChineseClass101.com is the most fun and effective way to learn Chinese! In this Chinese Absolute Beginner lesson, we will learn how to tell others where we are from, and ask others about their own nationality. This is simple Chinese, as well as Chinese that you can start using right away. So join us for this Absolute Beginner lesson in Mandarin, and then come and visit us online at ChineseClass101.com, where you can find a lot more great Chinese lessons and get yourself on the way to fluency fast in Chinese.
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This entry was posted on Monday, January 11th, 2010 at 6:30 pm and is filed under Absolute Beginner Season 1 . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
139 Responses to “Absolute Beginner #2 - Meeting in China - Where are You From?”
at 6:30 pm
Where are you from? Tell us in Chinese, if you can!
at 3:56 am
i love amber!!!!!
at 6:45 pm
This lesson does not include the Lite Notes or the Hanzi PDF.
at 10:37 am
@Bob,
it’s fixed now, thx.
at 8:34 pm
zhouli
No, I’m afraid its not fixed.
And Absolute Beginner No. 1 has the same problem.
at 2:49 pm
Thanks for fixing both.
at 8:11 pm
Hi Guys! Awesome lesson, I really enjoyed it!
By the way the audio file in the Vocabulary list for Chinese is not working. Would love to hear the syllables pronounced…..
Keep up the great work!!
at 3:46 pm
你好！
我是美国人！
Did I type that right?
at 12:53 pm
@Melody,
yes, you typed it correctly
at 2:48 am
大家好
我是美國人！
at 5:40 am
您好，我也是加拿大人！
at 3:55 am
你好！
我叫Emil。我是丹麦人。你们呢？
:)
at 10:40 am
你好 Emil，
我叫Jane，是中国人。I look after this website. Please feel free to ask any questions and I’ll try my best to help you. 欢迎你(welcome you).
Best,
Jane
at 4:40 am
你好!
我叫 Gea。
我是荷蘭人。
at 2:52 pm
Hi Gea,
Same warm welcome to you as well. I hear that many people from 荷兰 can speak at least 2 different languages. Is it true?
Best,
Jane
at 5:37 am
Hello there!
Congratulations to your new improved site. Maybe not as pretty as the old one, but much easier to work with.
And hey: no big drum telling us you have a dictionary with sounds in beta?!?! Or have missed something? Anyhow: Great! More sounds, please
Now I would like to have a fresh pdf-file added here since the one present is broken.
Take care!
at 10:55 am
Hi KanjiHanzi,
Thanks for your very complimentary comment. I am glad you like the new dictionary.
I’ve checked the pdf files for this lesson. They seem work ok for me. Can you give it another try? Do let me know if there is any problem. Thanks.
Best,
Jane
at 5:35 pm
Thanks for the prompt answer, Jane!
(Is there a Chinese name hiding behind this name?
don’t be shy to present yourself and all the people working with this!!)
You are absolutely correct: it worked now. All I’ve got twice - when the lesson was released and yesterday - was a truncated file at around 200k (instead of 900k). Strange.
I see it’s 4:30 pm in Beijing now, so I wish you a great evening.
at 1:07 am
Hello,
I´m from Brazil, witch “I guess”… is called baxiguó (巴西国). Daí, eu seria baxiguórén . Although, I have a question. I live in Aracaju(http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aracaju) and Id like to know how I call Aracaju in Chinese, since Aracaju is a word derived from indian language (in that matter tupi-guarani) witch means “Parrots cashew tree”.
at 11:09 am
Hi Fabio
The Chinese for Brazil is indeed “baxiguo” in which the last character”guo” means country. However, we often just say “baxi” instead to refer to Brazil. This name here has been phonetically translated into Chinese which is the most common method to use when it comes to translate foreign place names or person’s name.
Therefore, for the place which you live, Aracuju is phonetically translated as 阿拉卡茹ālākǎrú. Does it sound like how you would say it in your language?
Best,
Jane
at 1:36 pm
我 是 美國人。
我 已经 知道 在 Amber 是 加拿大人。 “aboout”
That’s supposed to say: “I knew Amber was Canadian because her ‘about’ had a bit of ‘aboot’ in it.”
:)
at 3:50 am
I am really confused what they mean by 1st tone, 2nd tone, etc.
I know how to read the pinyin, but do not know how to match up with the number tones. Can someone please clarify which tones are with which accent markings?
at 7:46 pm
你好！
我是Jacopo，我是意大利人。
I’ve not found “Italian (person)” on Dictionary so I hope “意大利人” is correct!
at 1:22 pm
Hi Dan,
The tones for Chinese is a very difficult problem to a lot of Chinese learners. So please don’t worry. I recommend you first take a listen at this lesson (links below). If you are still confused after this lesson, please let me know and I’ll see what I can do. Good luck.
Best,
Jane
at 1:24 pm
Hi Jacopo,
You are absolutely right about 意大利人. To go one step further, do you know how to say Italian language in Chinese?
Best,
Jane
at 2:49 pm
Hi Dan,
I forgot to add the link in the message before. Here you go,
http://www.chineseclass101.com/2009/01/30/all-about-4-chinese-pronunciation/
Enjoy.
Best,
Jane
at 5:10 am
Hi Jane,
I guess “Italian language” in Chinese is 意大利文.
(=
at 5:59 pm
你好！
我是俄罗斯人和我来自莫斯科。 (I think, there should be another way of saying “I’m Russian and I’m from Moscow.” in Chinese).
我的母语-俄语。 (”My native language is Russian”, this sentence also needs to be corrected.)
提前感谢！
at 11:55 am
Hi Jacopo,
Maybe that question was too easy for you. Please let me know if you need any more help with learning Chinese. Good luck with your study.
Best,
Jane
at 12:19 pm
Hi DimGenich,
你好。Another way of introducing yourself could be
我是来自俄罗斯莫斯科的DimGenich。This way you also tell your name.
One little mistake with your first sentence, we don’t usually put 和 in the middle there even it is correct grammatically.
For your second sentence, you only need to put 是in the sentence, 我的母语是俄语，it’ll become perfect.
加油。
Best，
Jane
at 8:58 pm
你好 Jane,
谢谢你。
Take care,
Dmitry
at 4:57 pm
Hello again, it seems like the sound file of 中國人 is corrupted. Same thing with the flashcard…
at 9:50 am
我是澳大利亚人。
Have you made a podcast with other countries like New Zealand, Britain, Australia and South Africa.
at 6:16 am
你好！我是英国人。
at 7:10 am
@George,
你好，欢迎你！
–Echo
at 1:55 pm
我是日本人。。。
at 4:20 am
我是牙买加人.
at 6:27 am
@後藤 & Dianne,
嗨，欢迎你们加入ChineseClass101!
–Echo
at 4:30 am
How do you say Puerto Rico?
Also I’m asian.
Uh yea :]
at 1:36 am
@Stephanie,
Hi, welcome to the site! 欢迎你！
Puerto Rico is 波多黎各 (Bo1duo1li2ge4).
–Echo
at 10:02 pm
你好!
我叫 DaPhil, 我是奧地利人。
Mysterious ground advantage? Why, what a nice name. We call them the Alps.
at 7:54 am
@DaPhil,
嗨，你好呀！欢迎你们加入ChineseClass101!
–Echo
at 11:17 pm
After a bit of a search, I think I found the right word for my country!
我是荷兰人。
-Natascha
at 10:47 am
@Natascha,
非常好，欢迎你！
–Echo
at 12:46 am
Hello,
i am from germany. so it should sound like
wo shi de guo ren?
at 12:51 am
的 過 人
Is that germany? Used pinyin for the very first time.
at 11:54 pm
@Martin,
Hi, welcome!
It should be 德国人／德國人 (De2guo2ren2）.
–Echo
at 8:46 pm
Hi, my name’s Jordan, and I’m new to the lessons. I’m currently employed in China as an English teacher at an offshore Canadian school. I actually downloaded the app from the software version of this language teacher from the Apple app store and I’m using it on my macbook pro. I just completed lesson two and I have a question. My wife (who’s Chinese) indicated to me that the actual complete way to phrase the question, “which country are you from?” is, Ni shi na ge gou jia de ren? Why isn’t this taught or mentioned? She explained that what is taught here is like a more informal shortened version, but I understand that there are many Chinese people who commonly use ALL the words in the question. That would take somebody by surprise and probably completely throw them off if they’re not listening for it in China.
at 3:06 am
I found a chinese name and it’s:
德 利 克 dé lì kè
Can you guys tell me what this means.
at 3:19 am
I am Haitian, but i don’t really know how to say that in Chinese.
Help
at 9:45 pm
@Jordan,
Hi, welcome to the site!
What we taught here is the most colloquial and natural way to ask “where are you from” in Mandarin. You can say “Ni3 shi4 na3ge5 guo2jia1 de5 ren2″ as well, it’s just a bit less natural.
–Echo
at 9:48 pm
@Derrick,
德利克 is the direct translation from the English pronunciation, so it doesn’t mean anything.
Is your name Hai3tian1? The sea and sky?
–Echo
at 6:04 am
Hi! I am Norwegian, and wonder how I can say my nationality in chinese?
Wa chy ? go ren
Thank you:)
at 3:13 pm
@Ester,
You can say “Wo3 shi4 Nuo2wei1ren2″.
–Echo
at 9:01 am
你好!
我是俄罗斯人。我是莫斯科人。
at 12:05 am
@Mellideia,
嗨，你好！欢迎你！
at 1:02 pm
How can i use a script with my free account?
at 7:24 pm
Hi Huy,
May I ask what kind of script are you referring to?
We do provide features including Lesson note, Honzi close-up and line-to line audio transcript, you can enjoy these features if you became a Basic or Premium member.
at 11:18 pm
What a great tool this is! But I’d love to at least get to try my 7 days full out before constantly gettting redirected to the membership page. I’m trying to print some of the hanzi close-up pages for the first few lessons but I can’t get past the membership purchase page. I probably will get a premium membership later but it’s still a bit annoying to not have free range in the test period. Thanks!
at 12:30 pm
Hi Snuffe,
Thank you very much for your support!!
You’re right, the 7-day Free Trial should give you access to pretty much everything (except Premium Feed), if you’re still experience such problem, please kindly give us your user name and we will follow up.
at 1:03 pm
Hi. I am having the same problem as Olivia. I joined yesterday, and today I am getting redirected to the purchase page also. My user name is amaslaluno5916.
I am planning to purchase a membership, but I am currently taking a one semester on line course with my boys so will probably not do so until our current class is over.
This site is fantastic, I have learned many new characters in just a day. Thanks!
at 4:18 pm
Hi Linda,
Thanks for your comment, we’re looking into the issue.
Please feel free to contact us via info@innovativelanguage.com if the problem continues.
at 10:16 am
I just started using this site yesterday…thanks! I am a very visual person and so far just trying to get comfortable with the pinyin before really concentrating on characters. In the Lesson Notes, the spacing in the pinyin is very confusing. Has anyone else mentioned this?
at 11:30 am
Hi Luanne,
Welcome to ChineseClass101.com!!
That’s right, please get comfortable with the pinyin before starting on the characters.
Regarding the spacing issue, what is bothering you? We haven’t heard anything about that from other users. Please do let us know so we can improve our lesson materials.
at 11:52 am
Well, it has been so long since I sent the original message that my free trial expired and I cannot see the Lesson Notes any longer. From what I can remember, it was something that should have been “Wo hen hao, ni ne” appeared as “Woh en hao nin e”
at 4:19 pm
Thanks Luanna,
Well I don’t see those spacing error anymore, so probably it was fixed
at 2:02 am
大家好!
我叫舒恩旭.
我是波兰人.
再见!
at 3:06 pm
舒恩旭你好！
欢迎来到ChineseClass101.com!
波兰现在天气怎么样？和暖的春天到了吗？
at 7:08 am
你好!
我叫 马卡了那 ( Macarena)
我是 西班牙人. Xi1 ban1 ya2 ren2 ( Spanish)
再见!
at 11:01 am
@Macarena,
你好，欢迎欢迎！你的名字可以写成“玛卡莲娜”。beautiful name.
–Amber
at 3:57 am
Note to website manager, can you add the date to the day and time?
Wo shi mei gou ren.
我 是 美 国 人。
I could not get “country” to come up, using the Microsoft Language bar. I had to cut and paste it from someone else’s post. Is my pinyin spelling correct? Thanks!
at 11:31 am
@Linda,
You can try ‘mei guo ren’ next time.
–Amber
at 11:56 am
美 国 人
Hmm, it worked that time. Thanks.
at 11:12 am
我是从美国来的
我使美国人
I heard it used both ways
Are they correct????? >_
at 7:37 pm
@音乐，
Both are correct. Just one small typo 我“是”美国人.
at 5:23 am
@Echo
Ah I see thank you!!!!
at 8:45 am
Great to have you all here!
Helping each other is a good way of sharing your language knowledge. 
Thank you so much for your help 音乐
Cheers,
Neha/ChineseClass101.com
at 6:04 pm
我是蒙古人。
at 10:52 pm
Wǒ shì xīnxīlán rén
我是新西兰人
hehe kiwis don’t use ‘国’ to say where we are from, because 新西兰 is such a weird place they had to transliterate it. =p
at 11:25 am
@zanni,
Welcome to ChineseClass101 zanni from 新西兰.
at 10:42 am
大家好！
我叫橋田薰 【HASHIDA KAORU】，我是巴西人。
Is it right?
at 11:52 am
@edilson hashida,
That’s right! Welcome to ChineseClass101 橋田薰！
at 1:36 pm
I love your beginners podcasts.
Thanks
at 12:52 pm
Hi Senny 55,
thank you for your comment!
Please feel free to ask us any questions you might have!
Stefania/ChineseClass101.com
at 10:30 pm
How about malaysia?
What malaysia stands for in chinese?
at 12:17 pm
@Syazwani,
马来西亚
Amber(An Bo)/ChineseClass101.com
at 11:00 pm
你好 我是日本人 我叫吉田
I’m glad to find this great service.
It’s really useful for learning both Chinese and English at the same time
at 12:54 pm
HOW TO PRONOUNCE IT?
at 9:00 am
Hello Yoshida,
We’re happy to have you here! We hope you improve your Chinese and English through our lessons.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
Neha/ChineseClass101.com
at 12:15 pm
Hi Syazwani,
马来西亚 is Mǎláixīyà
very similar to the English
Cheers,
Olivia / ChineseClass101.com
at 12:17 pm
Hi edilson hashida,
你好！你說得沒錯！
請問你是日裔巴西人嗎？
Olivia / ChineseClass101.com
at 6:02 pm
我是美国人！ Yessss!
(translation: I am American.)
at 5:29 pm
@marykistre,
对，非常好！
at 8:43 pm
你好 我是泰国人
at 1:32 pm
Hi Jan,
你好，欢迎你！
Please feel free to leave us a comment if you have any questions.
Echo,
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 6:48 am
Hello,
no Frenchies on board?
So I am French and more specifically Breton (from Brittany region).
How can I say that in Chinese?
Thanks a lot,
C./.
at 11:08 am
Hi Cyrille,
You can say 我是法国人，来自布列塔尼 — Wǒ shì Fǎguórén, láizì Bùliètǎní. (I’m not sure how many Chinese people know about Breton though)
Echo,
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 3:23 am
你好。
我是德国人。
at 1:25 pm
Hi Hans,
你好！欢迎你！
Echo
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 3:30 am
我是英国人!
I am English
I speak Japanese so the characters are less scary than the tones for me right now =D. This lesson was awesome but I still can’t pronounce 英 in Chinese！
at 2:56 pm
Hi Beth,
Welcome to the site! 欢迎你！
Good that you’ve already been familiar with the characters. Try to keep practicing your pronunciation while listening to our audio. You will get better and better. 加油！
Echo
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 9:24 am
我是malaysia人
大家好
Selamat pagi
Kent Lau Chee Yong
at 12:45 pm
你好。我是澳大利亚人。
at 12:59 pm
Hi Kent Lau Chee Yong,
Welcome to the site! 欢迎你！
Feel free to ask us questions about our lessons as well as Chinese language and culture.
Cheers,
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 1:00 pm
Hi Rachael,
Welcome to the site! 欢迎你！
澳大利亚现在是夏天对不对？
(Àodàlìyǎ xiànzài shì xiàtiān duì bùduì)
It is summer in Australia now, right?
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 11:59 pm
我從複捲機，格魯吉亞。
at 12:54 pm
Hi Arular,
Welcome to ChineseClass101.com!欢迎你！
複捲機 means a rewinding machine
There is no official translation for Winder, but you can use its transliteration 温达 (Wēndá).
A more natural way to introduce yourself is:
我来自 格鲁吉亚 的 温达。
Wǒ láizì Gélǔjíyà de Wēndá
“I’m from Georgia’s Winder.”
Cheers,
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 2:14 am
Love your lesson. Easy to understand and both of you are doing great.
我是Ying. (I do not know how to write my name in Chinese). My family moved from Xiemen to Bangkok then USA.
That makes me…我是泰國人 or 美國人?
at 2:25 pm
Hi Lacerulean,
Welcome to the site!
Hmm… that’s a hard question. I guess it depends on which one you like
Echo
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 2:03 pm
Hi. I am Jonathan Paltridge. I am from New Zealand.
你好. 我叫Paltridge Jonathan.(dont have chinese name yet-my friends are working on it) 我是新西兰人.(Wǒ shì xīnxīlán rén)
at 11:53 am
Jonathan 你好，
welcome to the site!
新西兰现在热吗？
Xīnxīlán xiànzài rè ma?
“Is New Zealand hot now?”
Cheers,
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 12:57 am
你们好！我是智利人！！
at 11:26 am
Libby 你好，
智利现在天气怎么样？
Zhìlì xiànzài tiānqì zěnme yàng?
“How’s the weather in Chile now?”
Cheers,
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 8:04 pm
大家好!
我叫黎奕康,我是意大利人.
我住在香港.
我正在學習普通話.
I’m an exchange student here, 5 months from now i will come back to Italy, 往巴里,我的城市.
Is it write till now?
at 8:16 pm
*right ahah sorry
好累
at 11:04 am
Hi Louie 黎奕康,
非常好！
請問你為什麼學普通話呢？
“I’m an exchange student here, 5 months from now i will come back to Italy, 往巴里,我的城市.” => “我是個交換生，五個月後會回去我的城市，意大利的巴里。”
Cheers,
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 7:39 pm
Hi, im from Iceland. How do i say Iceland in chinese?
at 3:09 pm
Hi Solla,
Welcome to ChineseClass101.com!
Iceland in Chinese is 冰岛 (Bīngdǎo).
Feel free to ask whenever you have a question, we’re here to help!
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 9:15 am
I’m from Malysia.
how to say??
at 10:30 am
Hi qalbi,
That would be:
我是马来西亚人。
Wǒ shì mǎ lái xī yǎ rén.
“I am Malaysian.”
Cheers,
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 6:31 pm
Hi I have just started this course and it looks very promising. Tell me I am I supposed to be seeing Chinese Han pictures because all I see are little boxes where the pictures should be. Also as I use a UK keyboard how can I access the chinese keyboard to post comments in pinyin.?
Thanks
Colin
at 6:40 pm
PS I am from Scotland so it would be wo shi???
Thanks
C
at 5:39 pm
Hi Colin Munro,
Sorry about the pdf display, it might be because your computer do not have Chinese characters support, please try adding it in Control Panel/Language.
To type Chinese with pinyin, the easiest is using the Pinyin Input function on Google Translate.
Regarding your second question:
我是苏格兰人。
Wǒ shì Sū gé lán rén.
“I am Scottish.”
Cheers,
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 3:39 am
Olivia Thanks for your reply. I will look into Google translate as you suggest.
What surprises me is how people who can read Chinese can decipher the Han script when it is so small eg on e mails. I assume that given enough time and experience it would be like identifying small print in any language. The other thing is how long it takes to write Han correctly and how accurate you have to be…….Respect!!!
Colin
at 3:01 pm
Hi Colin,
Yes, exactly like you said. Actually I feel the same about English speakers: how can they recognize those English words when they are printed so small or written so unclearly. I guess it’s the same answer
Echo
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 4:38 pm
I think this is pretty simple to understand. Thank you so much for teaching us grammatically easy
at 10:13 am
Hello margareth,
We’re glad to know that you find our lessons easy to understand.
Happy learning!
Cheers,
Neha
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 1:02 am
你好！我是俄国人.
at 10:35 am
Yuri 你好！
你住在俄国哪里？
Cheers,
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 1:06 pm
Sugelan ! ? ( Scotland )
at 2:11 pm
Hi David,
Yes, Scotland is 苏格兰 (Sūgélán).
So you are Scottish 苏格兰人?
Cheers,
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 3:58 am
你好！
我叫 Bartek
我是波国人。 (I’m Polish, is it correct?)
再见！:)
at 10:04 am
Bartek你好！
歡迎你！
“Poland” is 波兰，
So you should say 我是波兰人。
Cheers,
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 5:28 am
Hello，I am from Slovakia, how it will be in Chinese? Jan
at 8:53 pm
Hi Jan,
Welcome to the site!
Slovakia is 斯洛伐克 (Sīluòfákè).
How’s the weather there now?
Cheers,
Olivia
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 9:32 pm
I’m a Filipino.Wo shi Philippine guo ren.我是Philippine国人.Is that right!?
at 5:37 pm
Hi Yvon,
It should be 我是菲律宾人.
Echo
Team ChineseClass101.com
at 10:38 pm
你是哪国人？
我是美国人，你呢？
我是中国人。
他是我哥哥？ｃａｎ ｉ ｓａｙ （他是我的哥哥。）？
Ｃｏｕｌｄ ｙｏｕ ｔｅｌｌ ｍｅ ｔｈｅ ｗｏｒｄ Ｃａｍｂｏｄｉａ ｉｎ Ｃｈｉｎｅｓｅ？
at 8:37 pm
Hi 美玉，
你好！Welcome to the site!
If we are talking about relatives or family members, we usually don’t use that 的.
Cambodia is 柬埔寨 Jian3pu3zhai4.
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